Skordalia

I was finally reading a booklet I purchased at an organic farming conference called Growing and Using Garlic, A Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin. Looking through the recipes, I saw one I did not recognize, Skordalia, which is a Greek recipe with potatoes typically (but not always) as a base that is considered a ‘comfort food’ used as a dip or a sauce, but in either case, with lots of added garlic. The word comes from a hybrid of ‘skor’ (Greek for garlic) and ‘dalia’ (Italian for garlicky). So there you have it, ‘garlic-garlicky’ – how in the world did we miss this dish all these years? It makes me wonder what else is still new in the world to us.

There are many ways to make this recipe. Here is what I did, which is a compilation from many recipes on the internet:

Ingredients:

2 baking potatoes

10-12 cloves garlic (I used 3 giant cloves), peel

1/2 teaspoon salt (I used about 1/4 teaspoon)

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1/2 cup – 1 cup olive oil

Directions:

Bake the potatoes until fully cooked (knife or fork should pierce easily)

While potatoes are baking, peel, and finely chop or mash (I did use a garlic press) the garlic, add salt and mix until the garlic is a paste

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle but still warm, scoop out insides. There should be 2-3 cups of potatoes.

Mash the potatoes, add garlic, and red wine vinegar.

Slowly add the olive oil, continuing to mash, until mixture is blended together and a little thinner than hummus.

Taste and add more salt if necessary.

Spread on a plate or platter and surround with vegetables (I used roasted beets, which is a traditional way of serving it) or crackers or pita bread

Drizzle with a little more olive oil, garnish if desired (I used chopped green garlic, but parsley would also be fine, or nothing at all)

I’m going to also have fun making this dish using bread and/or walnuts as a base. In any case, Skordalia will become a staple in our list of ‘go-to’ recipes. I served it as an appetizer before going out to eat with friends. I wonder how to say ‘Pretty Good!’ in Greek!

Smashed garlic ready to add to Skordalia with 3 garlic cloves which are the size that I used

Skordalia ready to serve with roasted beets, garnish is chopped green garlic from stray garlic coming up in old fields in the fall